Just Let It Go

I have a confession: Last Christmas I hosted the majority of our immediate family. All 18 of them. My sister and I worked for days to make a spread of which I am quite proud. And I served it all on paper plates. Not even the nice kind of paper plates. These were the cheap kind that you have to double plate to avoid grease soaks.

Okay, so maybe that’s not a major deal to you. But to me, that might be one of the biggest faux pas ever for a fancy holiday dinner. I am one of those crazy women with the Spode Christmas tree china that is only usable for 4-7 weeks (depending on how you stretch it!). I love to pull it and all of the matching serving pieces out on the Third Friday of November.

But on this particular Christmas Day…I let it go.

How did I get here?

Being a mom is a journey.  I’m a little uptight about everything being just a certain way.  My house is *preferably* in order as much as possible (much to my poor husband’s dismay).  I am guilty of going overboard with holidays and birthday parties.

And when I get in the trenches of gluing the perfect golf flags on pretzel rods for my son’s golf-themed birthday party, I have to stop and ask, “Why?”  Am I doing all of this for him?  Or am I doing this for me?  My honest answer is both.  I love my child with all my heart and my love language is “acts of service”.  I show my adoration and celebration by creating a party.  I also ENJOY making the itty bitty golf flag pretzels.  But, sometimes I need to step back and LET IT GO.

I need to let it go if my projects and high expectations mean quality time with my son is getting a backseat.

I need to let it go if my elaborate plans for dinner mean I don’t focus on sitting down to talk with my family at breakfast.

I need to let it go if keeping a spotless play area means devastating my son because I destroyed his complex and intricate village.  It’s okay to let the village stick around overnight (but maybe not two nights! baby steps, baby steps…).

I need to let it go if spending hours editing photos and writing for my personal blog means I missed that golden nugget of alone time with my husband after my son goes to bed.

And I need to let it go if eating on paper plates means I won’t stress about washing dishes and will instead stop to enjoy the spirit of Christmas with loved ones.

We all get caught up in our day-to-day chaos and forget to enjoy the moment.  Join me in striving to separate the important stuff from the little things.

Letting it go is a daily struggle and I mostly fail.  But, I will wake up tomorrow and try again because these are the days that we will all miss one day. And simple pleasures like my son curling up in my lap to read a book will end before I know it.

What do you need to just let go?